SFPD Destroys Physical Evidence During Trial; DA Disregards Exculpatory Evidence San Francisco, CA – San Francisco resident Jerniece Menefee was acquitted of attempted murder and five additional felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon by a San Francisco jury last Friday afternoon. Menefee faced 34 years to life in prison. On April 11, 2005, […]

San Francisco, CA – Deputy Public Defender Patricia Lee, a 29-year veteran of the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, will be honored with the California Wellness Foundation’s 2007 California Peace Prize. The 15th Annual California Peace Prize ceremony will be held in San Francisco on November 14, 2007. In recognition of her efforts to prevent […]

San Francisco, CA – The preliminary hearing of Omeed Aziz Popal, 30, is set to begin at 9:00 a.m. on November 7, 2007, at the Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant Street, Dept. 20. Popal is facing attempted murder charges in connection with a series of alleged hit-and-run incidents that injured eighteen people in San Francisco […]

San Francisco, CA – Last week, robbery and assault charges against two men were dismissed based, in part, on videotaped evidence from San Francisco crime-surveillance cameras. The videotapes, which were obtained by the Public Defender’s Office, confirmed their alibis that they were elsewhere at the time the crimes were committed. The two men, Neil Butler, […]

San Francisco, CA – Chief Attorney Teresa Caffese, the lead defense attorney in the much publicized 2005 LaShuan Harris case, will discuss her trial strategy at the 38th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law this weekend in Miami, Florida. She will join John Gould, M.D., Maguire Correctional Facility, Chief Psychiatrist, […]

San Francisco, CA – The Public Defender’s Office was again able to successfully remove a person from the City Attorney’s gang list, this time in the Western Addition injunction. Makia Johnson was ordered excluded from the Western Addition gang injunction by Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch. In a 14-page decision, Judge Busch ruled that […]

San Francisco, CA – Public Defender Jeff Adachi announces victory for his client Antonio Buitrago who was ordered excluded from the Mission gang injunction by Superior Court Judge Patrick Mahoney. Judge Mahoney ruled that “the record does not establish by clear and convincing evidence that (Antonio Buitrago) is an active gang member.” The decision granting […]

City attorney uses controversial tool against gang violence, a move critics and gang members say may do more harm than good. By Dan Verel San Francisco Bay Guardian, October 3, 2007 Read the rest of this article here.

San Francisco, CA – A new strategy for dealing with gangs is responsible for a dramatic decline in homicides in Los Angeles, according to a front-page story in today’s Los Angeles Times. The strategy involves a community-based, law enforcement program that works collaboratively with ex-gang members to prevent gang violence. According to the Times, the […]

By Hector Becerra and Richard Winton, Staff Writers Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2007 Los Angeles has seen a significant decline in homicides so far this year — including a 50% drop in killings in some South L.A. neighborhoods, such as Watts — as police embarked on a new strategy involving asking ex-gang members to […]